May 16, 2010

This moving and beautifully illustrated book, developed from an award-winning research project, examines the experience of African-American GIs in Germany since 1945 and the unique insights they provide into the civil rights struggle at home and abroad.

The direction was to create something bold and uplifting, without the use of red.

May 6, 2010

What Environmentalists Need to Know about Economics provides a conceptual set of tools for how to approach environmental issues in a rigorous and thoughtful manner, based on an analysis of incentives, property rights, market failure, supply and demand constraints, and insights from behavioral economics. Easy-to-read and filled with real-world examples of the most complex environmental challenges, this book demonstrates that sound economic analysis and reasoning can be one of the environmental community's strongest allies.

"Environmentalists" is a difficult word to set on a cover that has to have big, bold type. Though I suppose this title wasn't as difficult to set as a certain Fiona Apple album.

April 16, 2010

Earlier this year, a friend asked me to create branding and website designs for a new online music magazine and mp3 blog aggregator. The site would feature not only rock and pop music, but would embrace other genres of music, including jazz and classical. The site would also include in-studio or in-performance videos (sessions) to enhance the overall experience. A preliminary prototype is currently in alpha.

April 4, 2010

I've been attending The Orchid Show fairly regularly the past few years. It's not by design (har har) but rather that the show always seems to coincide with a beautiful weekend on which I want to visit a park far from the maddening crowds. And while the show itself can be crowded, the grounds of the New York Botannical Garden rarely are.

This year's show, Cuba in Flower, was designed by Jorge Sanchez. Throughout, he weaved iconic sights of Cuba. At the entrance, he has placed a replica of the La Giraldilla statue atop the Castillo de la Fuerza Real, which he has re-created in the Palms of the Americas Gallery reflecting pool. It's an arresting sight, causing traffic jams as people pause for photographs.

No less impressive is the finale, which had visitors gasping. White orchids form an archway along the length of the hall under which visitors pass. People stopped to take photos of each other, blocking the narrow path. One family turned to me and asked me to take their photo. I did, and smiled as they exclaimed it was the best photo they had of themselves that day. Crouched by another orchid, a photographer told me that her battery had just ran out. I offered my camera and told her she could use mine; I'd email her the photos. She demurred. She told me she already had over 2000 shots. But then she said she'd try her camera one more time.

March 28, 2010

As part of the Cooper Hewitt's exhibit on contemporary design (Design USA), a guide is avilable on an iPod touch. Designed by 2x4, it's a cool way to learn more about the work but, like a digital coffee table book, it functions more as a complement to the exhibit rather than a true guide, which makes it all the more disappointing that you can't take it home (or at least download the app from the store). After pausing in front of various pieces to look them up on the iPod, I gave up trying to marry the two and settled into a spot in the atrium where I could relax and look through the pieces on the iPod independent of their physical presences in the museum.

All the same, I was happy to see audio guides distributed on an mp3 device. A few years ago I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei. A computer was set up in the lobby to let visitors download audio guides onto their mp3 players. I was glad for the opportunity not only to access the guide on a device I already owned, but also for the opportunity to take it home.

I've long wished that more museums would follow suit, even going so far as to offer dowloads on their websites. Often, I find that I don't necessarily want to listen to the audio guide while I'm experiencing the art, but would like to listen to it afterwards, after I've internalized what I have seen.

I still find myself listening to the guide I downloaded in Taiwan on the odd occasion. And I would love to have a copy of the audio guide offered by the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, if only to hear the way it introduces the bronzes. And how much fun would it be to be able to listen to Roger Moore narrate a visit to the Forbidden City from your own city?

March 14, 2010

I've been trying to motivate this weekend to edit my photos from Uzbekistan. As usual, it's taking me a little bit of time to even begin looking at them. I'm always disappointed when I first get my contact sheets and scans back from the lab, and I need to acquire some distance from the experience of travelling in order to look at the images with fresh eyes.

The other day I was watching a lecture given by Thomas Ruff and he spoke of photographs and how they differed from their subjects. He spoke specifically of portraits, and how he had to change the size of his photographs so that people began to identify the photographs separately from their subjects.

In a similar way, I have to make that separation between the photographs and the subjects before I can make sense of them for what they are. Sometimes it just takes longer than others. Sometimes I'm just lazy. :p

March 12, 2010

If it's hip it's here just posted information about the Yves Saint-Laurent retrospective at the Petit Palais in Paris. They've also been kind enough to post a mini retrospective of their own for those of us who won't be making it to Paris this summer. The official site is chock full of information and images as well (although the Flash interface to step through photos is a little obtrusive).

On the subject of YSL, one of my favorite museums is the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech. I was surprised to stumble upon the home and gardens while visiting Morocco. I hadn't known about it until I arrived and was amazed at the collection of Islamic art, among the best I had seen in the country. For anyone visiting Maroc, I highly recommend it.

March 9, 2010

A girl whose 9-year-old relative admitted to playing sexual "games" with her tried to run out from her medical examination. March 2003.

The NYTimes Lens blog is featuring work by Mariella Furrer. A victim of sexual abuse herself, her photographs document young victims of abuse in South Africa.

An estimated 50 child rapes are reported daily in South Africa, Ms. Furrer said, but children's rights advocates activists believe the actual rate could be much higher. On an average day, she said, two to eight children visit a local police station to report abuse.

She is at work on a book of the material, and is developing a global fundraising campaign to raise awareness of child sexual abuse. There is no additional information about her efforts, but more of her work can be found on her site.

February 28, 2010

Yesterday, I caught an exhibition of Robert Adams' work at the Mathew Marks Gallery. They're currently exhibiting a set of vintage prints that make up the series Summer Nights, Walking. It was great to see Adams' work live, and the prints (made by the photographer) are beautiful. There's so much detail in the mostly 7" x 7" prints, and the blacks are are dense without being muddy. I was tempted to purchase the image on the left, North Edge of Denver, Colorado, save that it was a little out of my price range, and already sold. Perhaps it's for the better.

February 22, 2010

This afternoon, I stumbled upon a few of Thomas Nozkowski's pieces at the Met. I had gone to see the Bronzino exhibit, and saw the Nozkowski works out of the corner of my eye as I was walking towards it. I made a mental note to look up the artist to see what else I could learn, then promptly forgot. And then, while looking through the various blogs I read, I saw an announcement for a show of his work to be held at the Senior & Shopmaker Gallery. It will be the inaugural show in their new space on 11th Avenue and 25th Street.

The show opens on the 27th. More samples of his work can be found here.